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My brother in law makes this yummy-licious Breakfast Cake (bt-dub, how lucky is my sister?). It’s essentially a savory breakfast casserole. And it’s amazeballs. Both straight out of the oven & reheated. Which got me thinking. Maybe I could make it in a more portion ready size & freeze it. DUH! Cupcakes!

Breakfast Cupcakes

3/4 to 1 lb Breakfast Sausage

1 cup Baking Mix (or TJ’s Baking Mix)

3/4 cup of Milk

2 eggs

8 oz of sour cream

Grated Cheddar Cheese (about 1/2 a pkg)

First, a note about the sausage. I used the chicken breakfast sausage from Trader Joe’s. It’s about 1/2 the fat of regular Jimmy Dean, and it tastes exactly the same. You could also use the reduced fat Jimmy Dean if you wanted. But regular is great as well.

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan by spraying with cooking spray or a light coating of oil.

To assemble, start with batter. The recipe will make EXACTLY 12 cupcakes, so start small. Pour less than you think is needed in each cup (less than halfway). You can go back & fill further with any leftover batter. Layer with sausage, then sour cream, and finally cheese, using the same method.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the sour cream mixture is set up (not wet looking or “jiggly”). Leave in the pan for another 10 minutes and then remove to cool fully. Once they are cooled completely you can freeze them. I wrapped them in a paper towel & microwave for about a minute.

As a side note, you could just make the original recipe by following all the same ingredient amounts & prep instructions. Just layer in the same order in a glass casserole & bake at 375 for about an hour.

First off, let me say, it’s good to be back. August was such an insane month for us. A camping trip, throwing my nephew’s 1st birthday (post coming soon!), a trip to Nana’s, a trip to Detroit for a wedding, and lots of prep for school & last minute summer fun. I feel like I’ve been in survival mode for the last month. And when I look around the house I realize I haven’t survived well. While things are getting back on track, I still have camping junk that is yet to be unpacked, a car full of party decorations & donation items to be dropped off. But we’re getting there!

Anyway. School has started & our mornings come EARLY!!! I’m up between 5:30 & 6:00 am, and we’re out the door around 7:00am. It’s important to me that B starts the day with a good meal, but I’m not interested in cooking a big meal before my coffee sets in.

This week I’m trying to make a breakfast each day, after B is at school, that can be frozen/refrigerated & reheated in the mornings.

For cooking I find inspiration everywhere. Magazines, TV, blogs, and of course Pinterest. This is a modification of two. One from PW, and one I found on Pinterest.

I modified PW’s recipe so that I could use baking mix (I use TJs mix, but Bisquick would work too) and frozen blueberries. I would use fresh berries if I could find them in organic, but the frozen work great. Then I made them small to save me from having to cut up pancakes for B in the morning. I’m totes lazy before my coffee. (Ok all the time.) The small ones seem to freeze better also, and it’s easier to control portion them out with less waste.

The “recipe” is more a few simple steps to liven up a mix. So, here it is.

Lemony Blueberry Pancakes

Dry Baking Mix (Trader Joe’s or Bisquik or your favorite)

All ingredients called for in your mix

1 lemon

1/2 tsp vanilla

frozen blueberries (fresh if you have them)

My recipe is for the smallest amount that your mix gives you instructions for (10-12 pancakes for the TJs brand). You’re going to follow the instructions almost exactly. The only change is that before you measure your liquid, squeeze one lemon into the measuring cup. Add the the vanilla & zest the whole lemon into the measure. Then fill up the measure the rest of the way with the liquid that is called for in your instructions. For example, my recipe calls for 1 cup of water. Once I squeeze the lemon & add the vanilla & lemon zest, I have almost a 1/4 cup. I fill the cup up the rest of the way with water. Then I add my egg (which is called for in my mix).

I used a pastry tip to get the small size, but you could easily just put your batter in a ziploc & cut the corner for a make shift pastry bag. I find that it’s easier to get a small round cake this way.

I cook them on a griddle (large pan is fine), on med-high heat. Once they are cooking I sprinkle a few berries on the uncooked side.

Flip once the sides are set up.

Let them cool & then put them in an airtight container or ziploc bag & place in the freezer. I reheat them in a paper towel for about a minute. Enjoy!

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